Ryan O'Neal US Actor Passed Away Today

Ryan O'Neal US Actor Passed Away Today 

Ryan O'Neal was an American actor. Born in Los Angeles, he trained as an amateur boxer before beginning a career in acting in 1960. In 1964, he landed the role of Rodney Harrington on the ABC nighttime soap opera Peyton Place. It was an instant hit and boosted O'Neal's career. He later found success in films, most notably in the romantic drama Love Story (1970), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor[4] and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama,[8] Peter Bogdanovich's What's Up, Doc? (1972) and Paper Moon (1973), which earned him a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon (1975), in which he portrayed the titular character, Richard Attenborough's A Bridge Too Far (1977), and Walter Hill's The Driver (1978). From 2005 to 2017, he had a recurring role in the Fox television series Bones as Max, the father of the show's protagonist.

Early life

O'Neal was born in Los Angeles on April 20, 1941, the eldest son of actress Patricia Ruth Olga (née O'Callaghan; 1907–2003) and novelist and screenwriter Charles O'Neal.[a][9] His father was of Irish and English descent, while his mother was of paternal Irish and maternal Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry.[9][10] His brother, Kevin, was an actor and screenwriter.

O'Neal attended University High School in Los Angeles, and trained there to become a Golden Gloves boxer. During the late 1950s, his father had a job writing on a television series called Citizen Soldier, and moved the family to Munich, where O'Neal attended Munich American High School.

Personal life

Relationships

O'Neal married his first wife, actress Joanna Moore, in 1963. They had two children before separating in 1966. Moore eventually lost custody of their children to O'Neal as a result of her alcoholism and drug addiction.

His second marriage was to actress and his Peyton Place co-star Leigh Taylor-Young, with whom he had a son. They remained friends after divorcing in 1973. "I could speak to parts of Ryan like temper and volatility and reactivity, but I deeply know his goodness", Taylor-Young said.

O'Neal was in a relationship with actress Farrah Fawcett from 1979 to 1997. The relationship was tumultuous due to his infidelity and volatile behavior. Fawcett ended the relationship after she discovered O'Neal in bed with actress Leslie Stefanson.[30] O'Neal and Fawcett reunited in 2001 and were together until her death in 2009.

"I got married at 21, and I was not a real mature 21", said O'Neal. "My first child was born when I was 22. I was a man's man; I didn't discover women until I was married, and then it was too late." He had romances with Ursula Andress, Bianca Jagger, Anouk Aimée, Jacqueline Bisset, Barbra Streisand, Joan Collins, Diana Ross, and Anjelica Huston. According to his daughter Tatum O'Neal, he also had an affair with Melanie Griffith. In her 2014 memoir, Anjelica Huston claimed that O'Neal physically abused her.

Children

O'Neal had four children: Tatum O'Neal and Griffin O'Neal with Moore, Patrick O'Neal with Taylor-Young, and Redmond James Fawcett O'Neal with Fawcett.

For several years, O'Neal was estranged from his three elder children. "I'm a hopeless father. I don't know why. I don't think I was supposed to be a father. Just look around at my work—they're either in jail or they should be", he told Vanity Fair. In her autobiography, A Paper Life, Tatum wrote that she had suffered physical and emotional abuse as a result of her father's drug abuse.[30] Griffin O'Neal also suggested their family's problems stemmed from Ryan. "My father gave me cocaine when I was 11 and insisted I take it", he said.[30] Griffin added, "He was a very abusive, narcissistic psychopath. He gets so mad he can't control anything he's doing."

In 2007, O'Neal was arrested for shooting at Griffin, which he claimed was in self-defense; the charges were dropped. O'Neal refused to allow Griffin to attend Fawcett's funeral in 2009. He infamously hit on Tatum at Fawcett's funeral, not recognizing her as his daughter.

In 2011, Tatum reconciled with her father with a book and the TV show Ryan and Tatum: the O'Neals. In August of that year, O'Neal, Tatum, and Patrick attended Redmond's court appearance on firearms and drug charges.

Redmond has struggled with drug addiction for most of his adult life. In 2008, O'Neal and Redmond were arrested for drug possession in their Malibu home. In 2015, Redmond's probation was revoked and he was sentenced to three years in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. In 2018, Redmond was arrested and charged with attempted murder, robbery, assault and drug possession after he allegedly tried to rob a convenience store in Santa Monica. In an interview from jail he blamed his struggles on his parents.

Health and Death

In 2001, O'Neal was diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). After struggling with leukemia, O'Neal was frequently seen at Fawcett's side when she was battling cancer. He told People magazine, "It's a love story. I just don't know how to play this one. I won't know this world without her. Cancer is an insidious enemy."[58] In April 2012, O'Neal stated he had been diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer. He later stated it was stage 2.

O'Neal died on December 8, 2023, aged 82.